Key stat is welcome news to Aussie homebuyers

With the 2023 real estate year soon coming to a close, savvy buyers and sellers can still bend the market to their wishes via these developing trends.

Here we are two-thirds through the spring selling season, and it has been a triumph for vendors.

Not just in Sydney but across most of the other capital cities.

There are 3900 homes scheduled to go under the hammer around the nation across the week, with Saturday having the largest volume since the pre-Easter peak.

Sydney will have consecutive Super Saturday weekly offerings of 1000-plus offerings, not unexpected given Sydney has been the leading east coast capital in the surprise 2023 market recovery.

The boost to the number of homes hitting the market across the country means buyers have more choice and less competition. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Monique Harmer

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Vendors have been keen to join in as almost all housing markets have been unexpectedly resilient in the wake of significant increases in mortgage interest rates.

The current substantial boost to the number of homes hitting the market will be welcome news for buyers, providing them more choice and helping to alleviate competition, according to PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty.

Of course higher volumes tends to see weaker clearance rates, although this year there has been a yo-yoing just above and just below the national 70 per cent market in the preliminary success rate.

After the late results get tabulated Sydney’s clearance rate has been hovering around 66 per cent, according to CoreLogic.

Anything above 60 per cent indicates a healthy market.

Now the attention turns to November with PropTrack issuing some surprising data. Homeowners choosing to sell in November have achieved the highest prices nationally, according to PropTrack’s senior economist Paul Ryan.

His report found that November sellers achieved 0.8 per cent higher prices on average than throughout the year, representing a $6000 boost in returns for sellers.

November was followed by March which both typically see the highest level of sales activity based on an analysis of selling prices from 2013 to 2022.

The seasonally lowest prices occur in June and July, when market activity is typically quieter. But the top and lowest months varied around the capitals.

For Sydney, March is the best time of the year to sell – yielding a 0.85 per cent higher price over the rest of the year.

Buyers in Sydney looking to get the cheapest price may strike it lucky in December, when prices tended to be the lowest. Hobart sellers made 1.46 per cent more in February.

And while spring stacked up as the best time to sell in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and the ACT, it was early autumn in Adelaide.

It was an interesting exercise by PropTrack but the 1 per cent difference does not warrant vendors or buyers changing their plans.

My advice for sellers is to be an early bird in whichever season you intend to sell as it is when buyers are keen for fresh listings. Typically these early-bird vendors do well before the market gets inundated with rival listings in subsequent months which often coincides with buyer fatigue setting in.

Originally published as Key stat is welcome news to Aussie homebuyers